Specsavers takes off the Oracle glasses, sees better ERP options
(2025/04/02)
- Reference: 1743583095
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/04/02/specsavers_oracle_ebs_standardization/
- Source link:
International optometry company Specsavers has paused the global standardization of its Oracle ERP system and moved to third-party support, saving £5 million ($6.5 million) that can be reallocated to the business.
The company, which also provides hearing tests from thousands of retail outlets, plans to migrate to the cloud and upgrade or move to a new platform over the next four years.
The company estimates that by moving off Oracle support for its E-Business Suite (EBS) ERP v12.2 systems and onto third-party support from Spinnaker Support, it will save £5 million over the next three years.
[1]
Specsavers was founded in the UK in the 1980s and is a household name in its home market, but it has grown internationally through acquisition and expansion. Fourteen years ago, it began an ERP project to standardize on Oracle EBS internationally, but found the project did not meet the challenges of the business along with constant change. In 2021, for example, Specsavers established a presence in North America with [2]the purchase of Canada's Image Optometry .
[3]
[4]
Specsavers also uses a partnership model, akin to a franchise, in which clinical and retail partners own shares in outlets that are separate legal entities from the main business. Kieran Mazur, head of IT, group, people, and organization, told The Register that the entrepreneurial nature of the business and its rapid expansion put the brakes on ERP standardization.
"That made putting ERP-like applications very difficult, because you're starting to go in against the organization's culture. So, 14 years of trying to deploy ERPs is quite hard when you don't get a level of buy-in to global templates," he said.
[5]
Specsavers might have spent another five years trying to roll out a standard EBS system across all its operations and "nobody in 2030 should be rolling out on-prem ERPs," Mazur added.
The second reason for pausing the project is that in its lifetime, customer requirements have changed. The company argues that savings made from changing the ERP support model can be plowed back into the business to invest in its retail operations. Interacting with customers on mobile apps, online, and in store also has implications for its operations and supply chain management, which will affect future decisions on its choice and configuration of ERP.
[6]SAP legacy ERP customers still in no rush to adopt latest platform
[7]City council rejects inquiry into £130M Oracle IT disaster
[8]It's been 20 years since Oracle bought two software rivals, changing the market forever
[9]UK council still hadn't fully costed troubled Oracle project 2 years in
As such, Oracle EBS will be locked into its current configuration and the business will minimize investment in running the stack while it makes a longer-term decision, Mazur said.
While the company's HR application needs are taken care of by SAP's SuccessFactors, it is considering its options among vendors of ERP and supply chain management software.
"We've had the show-and-tells from Workday, SAP, Microsoft, Oracle, and Infor, and we're going to spend the next six months really getting to an RFP that we think can tell us which vendor and which partner we want to go with to replace some of our biggest ERPs," he said.
[10]
Although Oracle dominates the landscape, Specsavers also relies on Microsoft Dynamics and other smaller vendors for some of its ERP systems. Mazur said that after commercial negotiations, he expects delivery to start in February next year, giving the company three years to adopt a new ERP system in its biggest markets.
The two largest ERP vendors both offer customers an upgrade path from legacy software to completely new systems requiring new business processes, S/4HANA for SAP and Fusion for Oracle. Specsavers is unlikely to be the only business to use third-party support to focus on its best options for the future. ®
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[2] https://www.visionmonday.com/latest-news/article/specsavers-establishes-north-american-presence-with-purchase-of-canadas-image-optometry-in-british-columbia/
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The company, which also provides hearing tests from thousands of retail outlets, plans to migrate to the cloud and upgrade or move to a new platform over the next four years.
The company estimates that by moving off Oracle support for its E-Business Suite (EBS) ERP v12.2 systems and onto third-party support from Spinnaker Support, it will save £5 million over the next three years.
[1]
Specsavers was founded in the UK in the 1980s and is a household name in its home market, but it has grown internationally through acquisition and expansion. Fourteen years ago, it began an ERP project to standardize on Oracle EBS internationally, but found the project did not meet the challenges of the business along with constant change. In 2021, for example, Specsavers established a presence in North America with [2]the purchase of Canada's Image Optometry .
[3]
[4]
Specsavers also uses a partnership model, akin to a franchise, in which clinical and retail partners own shares in outlets that are separate legal entities from the main business. Kieran Mazur, head of IT, group, people, and organization, told The Register that the entrepreneurial nature of the business and its rapid expansion put the brakes on ERP standardization.
"That made putting ERP-like applications very difficult, because you're starting to go in against the organization's culture. So, 14 years of trying to deploy ERPs is quite hard when you don't get a level of buy-in to global templates," he said.
[5]
Specsavers might have spent another five years trying to roll out a standard EBS system across all its operations and "nobody in 2030 should be rolling out on-prem ERPs," Mazur added.
The second reason for pausing the project is that in its lifetime, customer requirements have changed. The company argues that savings made from changing the ERP support model can be plowed back into the business to invest in its retail operations. Interacting with customers on mobile apps, online, and in store also has implications for its operations and supply chain management, which will affect future decisions on its choice and configuration of ERP.
[6]SAP legacy ERP customers still in no rush to adopt latest platform
[7]City council rejects inquiry into £130M Oracle IT disaster
[8]It's been 20 years since Oracle bought two software rivals, changing the market forever
[9]UK council still hadn't fully costed troubled Oracle project 2 years in
As such, Oracle EBS will be locked into its current configuration and the business will minimize investment in running the stack while it makes a longer-term decision, Mazur said.
While the company's HR application needs are taken care of by SAP's SuccessFactors, it is considering its options among vendors of ERP and supply chain management software.
"We've had the show-and-tells from Workday, SAP, Microsoft, Oracle, and Infor, and we're going to spend the next six months really getting to an RFP that we think can tell us which vendor and which partner we want to go with to replace some of our biggest ERPs," he said.
[10]
Although Oracle dominates the landscape, Specsavers also relies on Microsoft Dynamics and other smaller vendors for some of its ERP systems. Mazur said that after commercial negotiations, he expects delivery to start in February next year, giving the company three years to adopt a new ERP system in its biggest markets.
The two largest ERP vendors both offer customers an upgrade path from legacy software to completely new systems requiring new business processes, S/4HANA for SAP and Fusion for Oracle. Specsavers is unlikely to be the only business to use third-party support to focus on its best options for the future. ®
Get our [11]Tech Resources
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Anonymous Coward
I'll second that. I was struck by the comment "nobody in 2030 should be rolling out on-prem ERPs". Implies he's come to the conclusion that cloud is a nice, cheap, reliable solution from dependable companies that won't rip him off - in which case I'm not sure why he's so anti-Oracle. He's swallowed half the medicine, needs to hawk it up or swallow the rest.
Doctor Syntax
"nobody in 2030 should be rolling out on-prem ERPs,"
Providing they have a paper record of the day's appointments to hand in case Back-hoe Billy happens along.
AMBxx
Specsavers patient records are all electronic (still unusual in Optics). Vile system to work on.
When Mrs AMBxx, the Optician, did a day at Specsavers, she was told that many of their locums just walk out at lunch to never return. She managed the whole day but would rather earn nothing than return.
Although it is a partnership model, it is very centrally controlled. Much more like a franchise with all those lovely fees heading tax-free to the channel islands.
If these internationally operating businesses are looking for solutions, please please please don't listen to the sales team from any of these large vendors, they really don't care about your business, only what they can get from you.
I'm also intrigued, if Specsavers are using an associate/partner/franchise type model, seems there's not going to be a universal one vendor solution to these myriad options.
If you want a laugh, why don't you also invite Fujitsu into the mix?